A New South Wales police undercover drug operation targeting call-out dealers has been criticized by a veteran detective.
Two undercover officers were seen patrolling Bondi Beach on Friday afternoon at around 7.30pm as part of a state task force targeting syndicates and individuals supplying cocaine.
A photo of the couple, shared on Facebook, showed the officer dressed as an eastern suburban mother, with a firearm visibly strapped to her hip.
The officer, who was trying to go unnoticed, was dressed like an eshay, complete with a fanny pack.
Former homicide detective Charlie Bezzina told Daily Mail Australia the officers’ clothing was “a bit absurd” as drug dealers would instantly recognize them as police.
Bezzina, who has experience in undercover and covert operations while running a drug task force in Melbourne’s western suburbs, said officers must integrate into their environment to be successful.
“It’s a little strange that they walk around in civilian clothes but still carry their firearms and other police equipment,” Mr. Bezzina said.
—As they say, police officers stand out a mile away. They could also be uniformed, especially if they are two up and walk in pairs.
The pair were seen on Bondi Beach in plain clothes, with the officer posing as an eshay, wearing a fanny pack, while the female officer dressed as an eastern suburbs mum (pictured).
Officers were part of a statewide “mark a dealer” operation, with more than 100 people arrested, including a young woman in Sydney’s CBD (pictured).
Bezzina explained that street vendors would identify the agents and move to a side street before notifying their customers of the new meeting location.
“These drug dealers on the street, that’s their domain, they’re very in tune with their surroundings,” Bezzina said.
“The key is to blend into the environment, especially when the merchant doesn’t know you face to face.”
However, he added that undercover operations were a fair policing strategy that, if done legally, could be very successful.
“The more covertly we can do it and the more outside the box the police thinking, the better it will be,” Mr Bezzina said.
“It is certainly fair to fool criminals into believing that the police are customers or normal people because, although we respect the rules, criminals do not.”
‘So any method we can think of that is legal is on the table. I would look for any means to catch these people and I would do it covertly, so that they wouldn’t identify me as a police officer.’
Bezzina also questioned the purpose of police operations targeting telephone dealers, stating that casually dressed officers were too “obvious” to smart dealers and would lead to low-level arrests.
Since then, more than 100 people have been arrested in operations across the state, which began on weekends starting Nov. 22.
However, Bezzina called the arrest statistics “false statistics” as the operation targets street criminals rather than “big fish.”
“You have achieved nothing, because crime statistics allow us to say that we have just locked up 300 drug traffickers who are low-level businesses,” Bezzina said.
‘But what have you achieved in the long term? Are you getting commercial distributors to supply the lower tiers? Have you climbed the tree to cut off the supply? The answer is no.
“Nothing has been achieved because they are only plugging holes. They are not reaching the source of the flood. They need to invest resources in the big fish.”
Former homicide detective Charlie Bezzina (pictured) told Daily Mail Australia the officers’ clothing was “a bit absurd” as drug dealers would instantly recognize them as police.
Many Australians also criticized the police for the operation, arguing that the disguises were unconvincing and that it would be easy to identify them as police.
‘So many gifts. “He is not from the street or from that life,” one person commented.
“The watch, the socks pulled up, the shoelaces tucked into his vans, the brand of fanny pack he’s wearing, and the fact that he looks like he’s straight out of the academy,” a second person wrote.
—So, the gock on the girl’s hip and the glock that the guy is wearing inside his shirt aren’t a clear indication? added a third.
A fourth joked that officers woke up and wondered, “What do kids wear these days?”
Despite the backlash, the dealer-calling sting operation will continue for the next few weeks and into 2025.
“Police employ a wide range of strategies to combat the distribution of illegal drugs,” Deputy Commissioner McKenna said.
‘This operation highlights NSW Police’s commitment to tackling the supply of illegal drugs and I support that commitment through ongoing operations targeting suppliers operating in the Central Metropolitan Region.
“Whether they are large drug suppliers, mid-level or street level, I will continue to commit resources to disrupting their operations and prosecuting them for their true criminality.”
Among those arrested was a man detained outside Parliament House on November 21.
On November 22, a glamorous woman was arrested on Hunter Street by an undercover police officer posing as an eshay.
A 22-year-old man was found driving through Sydney’s CBD with 14 bags of cocaine and thousands of dollars in cash and a Cronulla teenager was found with 18 bags of cocaine and charged with two counts of drug supply.
A Korean national was also arrested in Sydney’s CBD with 21 bags of cocaine and 60 MDMA capsules.
In Sydney’s east, a 26-year-old man was arrested with cocaine and cash in a hidden compartment, while a 45-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man were found driving along Bondi Road with 24 bags of cocaine. More than $3,000 in cash and a knife.